Blake v. Zant, No. 81-7417
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before TJOFLAT and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and TUTTLE; TJOFLAT |
| Citation | 737 F.2d 925 |
| Parties | Joseph James BLAKE, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Walter D. ZANT, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic Center, Respondent-Appellant. |
| Docket Number | No. 81-7417 |
| Decision Date | 13 July 1984 |
Page 925
v.
Walter D. ZANT, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic Center,
Respondent-Appellant.
Eleventh Circuit.
Page 926
Susan V. Boleyn, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, Ga., for respondent-appellant.
Millard Farmer, Joseph Nursey, Andrea Young, Millard C. Farmer, Pamela L.J. Arangno, Atlanta, Ga., for petitioner-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
Before TJOFLAT and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge.
TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:
On February 14, 1976, Joseph James Blake was convicted after a jury trial in Chatham County, Georgia, of the murder of Tiffany Lowery, the two-year-old daughter of Blake's girlfriend. He was sentenced to death. After pursuing various state remedies, 1 Blake sought federal habeas corpus relief in the district court. There, Blake claimed, inter alia, that he was denied effective assistance of counsel in the guilt phase of his trial, because his lawyer failed to develop or present his insanity defense, and in the sentencing phase because his lawyer failed to present possible mitigating circumstances. The district court granted the writ of habeas corpus on both of these claims and did not decide the other claims Blake raised. The state now attempts to appeal the grant of the writ. Because the district court's order did not dispose of all claims presented, and thus does not constitute an appealable final judgment, we must dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.
I.
This court has jurisdiction to entertain appeals only of final decisions and certain specified interlocutory decisions of a district court. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291, 1292 (1982). Where it appears that we have no jurisdiction over an appeal, we raise that issue sua sponte.
In this case the district court granted Blake a writ of habeas corpus on the basis of two of the claims stated in his petition. The court expressed no opinion regarding the remainder of the claims. Rather, the court listed the claims presented in Blake's habeas petition and stated: "Because the Court finds petitioner's second and third arguments with respect to ineffective assistance of counsel determinative, only these issues will be considered below." (Emphasis added.) Blake v. Zant, 513 F.Supp. 772, 778 (S.D.Ga.1981). The court also described its approach: "numerous arguments have been raised by petitioner, but the Court will review only two in detail here.... For reasons discussed below, the Court finds that both of these arguments must be sustained. Therefore, petitioner's conviction and sentence of death will be vacated." 2 (Emphasis added.) Id. at 776.
Page 927
Were we to reject the two issues claims on the basis of which the district court granted the writ, we would be forced to remand the case to the district court for a determination of the other claims. If the district court then decided less than all of the remaining claims in that round, petitioner's single habeas petition could spend many years in the federal court system undergoing piecemeal adjudication. It is such a result that rules limiting appellate review largely to final judgments were designed to prevent. 3
Because the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not always apply to habeas proceedings, we will first discuss the appealability of the district court's order as a final judgment in the context of Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) and 81(a)(2), and under section 1291. Second, we will turn to the appealability of the district court's order as an interlocutory order granting an injunction under section 1292(a)(1).
A.
A final decision, for the purposes of section 1291, is generally one which ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment. Catlin v. United States, 324 U.S. 229, 233, 65 S.Ct. 631, 633, 89 L.Ed. 911 (1945). Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) provides that in cases with multiple claims, in the absence of an express determination by the district court that there is no just reason for delay and an express direction for the entry of judgment on one claim, "any order ... however designated, which adjudicates fewer than all the claims ... shall not terminate the action ... [and] is subject to revision at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims...." This rule merely expresses the long-standing policy of the federal courts to prohibit piecemeal litigation of claims. Fed.Rules Civ.Proc. Rule 54, 28 U.S.C.A., Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules to 1946 and 1961 Amendments. See Hohorst v....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Blake v. Kemp, No. 81-7417
...Judge. TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge: I. APPEALABILITY OF DISTRICT COURT'S ORDER Following the publication of our opinion in this case at 737 F.2d 925 (11th Cir.1984), the Court withheld the mandate sua sponte to give further consideration to the appealability of the district court's grant o......
-
Puiatti v. Mcneil, No. 09-15514
...relief as to sentence based on prosecutorial-comment claim, and declined to reach other claims as to sentencing phase); Blake v. Zant, 737 F.2d 925, 926 (11th Cir.1984) (district court granted writ based on claims of ineffective assistance at guilt and penalty phases and did not decide othe......
-
Osterneck v. E.T. Barwick Industries, Inc., Nos. 85-8165
...federal courts are obliged to undertake a jurisdictional inquiry whenever it appears that, in fact, no jurisdiction exists. Blake v. Zant, 737 F.2d 925, 926 (11th Cir.1984), on reh'g, 758 F.2d 523, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 998, 106 S.Ct. 374, 88 L.Ed.2d 367 (1985); Save the Bay, Inc. v. Unite......
-
U.S. v. Moussaoui, No. 03-4162.
...769, 777 (2d Cir.1992); South Bend Consumers Club, Inc. v. United Consumers Club, Inc., 742 F.2d 392, 393 (7th Cir.1984); Blake v. Zant, 737 F.2d 925, 928 (11th Cir.1984); Florida v. United States, 285 F.2d 596, 600 (8th Cir.1960). Even assuming that the construction of § 7 advanced by my c......
-
Blake v. Kemp, No. 81-7417
...Judge. TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge: I. APPEALABILITY OF DISTRICT COURT'S ORDER Following the publication of our opinion in this case at 737 F.2d 925 (11th Cir.1984), the Court withheld the mandate sua sponte to give further consideration to the appealability of the district court's grant o......
-
Puiatti v. Mcneil, No. 09-15514
...relief as to sentence based on prosecutorial-comment claim, and declined to reach other claims as to sentencing phase); Blake v. Zant, 737 F.2d 925, 926 (11th Cir.1984) (district court granted writ based on claims of ineffective assistance at guilt and penalty phases and did not decide othe......
-
Osterneck v. E.T. Barwick Industries, Inc., Nos. 85-8165
...federal courts are obliged to undertake a jurisdictional inquiry whenever it appears that, in fact, no jurisdiction exists. Blake v. Zant, 737 F.2d 925, 926 (11th Cir.1984), on reh'g, 758 F.2d 523, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 998, 106 S.Ct. 374, 88 L.Ed.2d 367 (1985); Save the Bay, Inc. v. Unite......
-
U.S. v. Moussaoui, No. 03-4162.
...769, 777 (2d Cir.1992); South Bend Consumers Club, Inc. v. United Consumers Club, Inc., 742 F.2d 392, 393 (7th Cir.1984); Blake v. Zant, 737 F.2d 925, 928 (11th Cir.1984); Florida v. United States, 285 F.2d 596, 600 (8th Cir.1960). Even assuming that the construction of § 7 advanced by my c......